M3GAN
★★★★
OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 102 MINS
DIRECTOR Gerard Johnstone
CAST Allison Williams, Jenna Davis, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng
Sinister dolls have stalked the shadows of plenty of horrors over the years — none, however, quite like M3GAN. Has Chucky ever interrupted a stabbing spree to sing Sia’s pop smash ‘Titanium’, for example? Has Billy the Puppet ever broken into a TikTok-style dance, shortly before another Saw franchise victim meets their violent demise? Director Gerard Johnstone’s camp Frankensteinian fable about a roboticist who invents an AI best friend for her bereaved niece is as fun as it is unhinged. Sure, it’s silly and somewhat implausible — is the dawn of a new age in artificial intelligence really likely to be ushered in by a toy company? — but there’s lots to enjoy in the bloody kills and hilarious silliness. Like Annabelle via Black Mirror, this is a toy story like no other.